IN A RUT?

People/media/success stories/moms are always talking about balance. “Eat Everything in Moderation,” they say, “Work/Life Balance is important,” they preach, “Drink one glass of water for every alcoholic beverage,” they plead.

Okay, sure. These guidelines are obviously wise, either from instinctual knowledge, or whatever decade they themselves were learning that invincibility against hangovers does not get better with age.

Contrary to the Clean & Clear commercials, you aren’t just whisping through life, giggling and forgetting where you are. NO, balance does not look cool until you’ve been practicing it for years and you’ve graduated from balancing on a grounded see-saw, to a slack line, to a tight wire. And even then, your feet are still wobbling, it’s just that you are several stories up and your struggle is way more impressive.

In it’s truest relatable form to human nature, balance serves as a verb and not a state of being, Balanc-ing is really the only constant you can count on. SO, with that soap box in mind.. here are a few Mindsets that can help to restore balance on the days, weeks, or months that you just can’t bear to get back on that see-saw.

1.EAT YOUR FROGS FIRST– Can’t remember where I learned this, but a good rule for whomever’s genius I am infringing upon.. If you dread it, do it. Thinking of a thousand ways you could die on a run before actually going on that run? Quit thinking, and bolt out the door like a madwoman. Taxes been sitting on your desk for 17 days and counting? Don’t ‘save up for a good time’ – bite into it first thing in the morning. That blog sitting there waiting for the next post because you don’t know if it’s ‘good enough’?.... Just. Get. Moving.

2. USE YOUR TONGUE - Now, this is a weird one but hear me out. The tongue is the strongest muscle in the body. If it’s not used for productive measures (conversation, laughing, problem-solving, singing/etc.) the pent-up energy will end up destructively (eating, smoking, word vomit, etc.) because the tongue and mouth muscles are directly connected to the brain very basically just needs to move and ironically, has no way to tell you. Studies that haven’t been conducted show that your mood actually improves when you are using your mouth musculature on a consistent basis.

To make a parallel case - If, for a whole day, you just let a bodybuilder sit at a desk and watch his/her fingers type… they’d end up destroying something in the office by COB. If you aren’t talkative, or generally hate people – try chewing gum or mouthing the words to songs or practicing new ways to smile (the last one should only be used if you work from the privacy of your own home).

3.SCHEDULE ADRENALINE– This tip technically is more of an action than a mindset, but make sure to keep exciting things on your calendar that will spark adrenaline to give your energy a natural boost when you just don’t feel like a million bucks, and more importantly – will usually induce laughing, bonding, and storytelling which are all hugely important to building balance (and all coincidentally involve using your tongue…).

4.HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED? – Bit of a morbid thought but.. at the same time, can be massively inspiring (yes, queued British accent)

5.FORGIVE YO’SELF BEFORE YOU DRILL YO’SELF – The most important, and mushy, rule. If you feel like you are stuck in the mud, you may not actually be stuck, you may just be reevaluating. If you have been heading face first toward your dreams, and at some point, realize you may not even want those dreams anymore – feels like backwards drainage, like you regressed to the same squirrely 19-year-old who couldn’t decide what to eat for breakfast. These feelings are called growing pains.. Don’t step back, lean forward – why are you reevaluating? Is a childhood dream resurfacing? Are you feeling called to something? Are you starting to say no to a life you weren’t designed for in the first place? What a beautiful place to be. Reset. Re-smile. Re-charge. Get Moving, even if it’s in a new direction.

What no one seems to mention is that balance isn’t like an Apple product – you don’t just one day magically ‘get it’ and your life changes forever. Balance is like standing on a see-saw while Uncle Eddie’s kids are sitting on either end – You don’t just finally ‘get up there’ and then you’re done. You have to constantly adjust your stance, sometimes your arms flail in 100 directions, your feet are a terrible rendition of the Elvis shuffle, you make weird sounds that concern those around you.

So keep those feet shuffling, dance it out, bite the bullet list, and start blocking and tackling those dreams into actionable results.

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